I was lucky enough to inherit a nice Dual 1019 turntable. My late uncle had purchased it in 1974 and used it until about 1990 when it stopped working and he took it out of service. I'd had it on the shelf for about 12 years but decided it was time to fix it up and start using it.

It was complete but the controls were all bound up. Dual evidently used the same lubricant as other manufacturers, the one that turns to epoxy over the years. So it was time for a complete disassembly, cleaning, and re-lubrication.

This automatic turntable is constructed unlike any other I've seen. Instead of an eccentric or cam gear driving a slide that activates the tone arm, spindle drop, etc., the Dual has a central Lexan cam with multiple tracks, each track responsible for an individual function. Very elegant and logical, and surprisingly easy to disassemble for cleaning.

All back together it was time for a test run. Place the switch in the Manual position, and the turntable started turning but it stopped as soon as the switch was released. Oh no! Luckily I had inherited the instruction manual as well. The Dual is operated like no other turntable I've seen -- if you want the turntable to keep running in Manual mode you have to put the arm on the record! OK, if you insist......

That resolved, all functions operated perfectly, and incredibly smoothly and quietly. I could not test the spindle drop as I don't have the automatic spindle, which was known to be problematic. On the Dual, with no stabilizer arm, the Automatic mode can be used to start the turntable, set the tone arm down, return and shut off automatically which is how most people use them.

Now, for a cartridge. I had three choices: 1) get a new stylus for the existing cartridge, a Pickering XV-15, 2) get a new stylus for the Shure M91ED I had recently swapped out of my trusty Thorens, or 3) buy a new cartridge, probably a Shure M97X like I had installed in the Thorens, and which I like a lot. Doing some research I learned about JICO which manufactures highly-regarded new styli for "classic" cartridges. I ordered one for the XV-15.

Fussing with the cartridge was when I discovered the principal weakness of this turntable -- the "carrier sled" that holds the cartridge in the tone arm and which has contacts to mate with those in the tone arm. This carrier sled is not of the same high quality as the rest of the turntable. The contacts were badly tarnished and a couple had broken away. The cartridge terminals are very thin and flimsy, not holding tension against the cartridge pins. It took me a couple of tries to get everything back together, but I was never confident in the integrity of the connections. This was confirmed over the next several months as the turntable would sound terrific one day, then the left channel would be missing the next day, maybe the right channel a few days later, etc. etc. Very erratic.

Good news! The cartridge sled has been remanufactured and is available for $47 at TurntableNeedles.com. The new one is everything the original is not -- solid construction with spring-loaded plunger contact pins and robust cartridge terminals. I recommend it highly for anyone using a Dual 101x turntable. Here is a link:

All sorted now, this turntable performs magnificently and is a pleasure to use. Most of my experience with automatic turntables had been with RCA and Garrard, and this one is significantly better than than even the Garrard. Much more precise in operation, much less rumble, and much smoother controls. The tone arm is as good as the one on the Thorens with such low friction that it will accept the finest cartridges. I had heard Duals were well respected, and now I could see why. The Dual is part of my downstairs stereo system, and I am enjoying it immensely!

German consumer electronics engineering in the '50's to 70's was great sound-wise, but they had a penchant for putting in weak link parts that used contactor type mechanics in them. That cartridge sled was an example of that mindset...where instead of hardwiring the cartridge to the arm they used those stupid spring loaded contacts and brass pieces. BTW--Thanks for tip on the reproduction someone finally made. ALSO--The infamous piano key pushbuttons used on most of the German sets then were notoriously trouble prone also.. using too many exposed and inaccessible contactors in a circuit.

Last edited by Tbirdkid on Jan Thu 18, 2018 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

In fairness to Dual, they stopped making this turntable in 1968. When I was servicing them-and I serviced literally hundreds-, there were very few problems with the headshell connections or intermittencies with signal. I suspect that both time and handling have ultimately taken their toll on these parts. I'm glad that you were able to resurrect this fine turntable. If you read the reviews from around 1966, they compared the 1019 favorably to the best manual tables available. From the 1009 on, Dual really began hitting on all cylinders, with extremely low tonearm friction combined with very stable speed and low wow and flutter. You could easily mount an ADC XLM in the 1019 and track it all day at 3/4 gram, with no difficulty tripping the auto shut off. Rumble, while not the lowest around, was still plenty good as long as you kept a supple idler in the unit. We replaced them every few years and if you haven't done so, it might make sense to have yours rebuilt. I find that Terry Dewitt does the best job with these. As for operation, yes, the manual position is a bit confusing on these, and was changed when they went to the 12 series where just moving the arm from the rest turned on the motor. If your cuing is moving too slow or too fast, you can buy new damping fluid here: http://turntablebasics.com/silicone.html. Much as I like the 1019, I have to say that my all time favorite Dual changer is the 1219 or 1229. The synchronous motor with large diameter idler, gimbal arm bearing, and full size platter were definite improvements over the 10 series.

Your clear description of operating the 1019 felt like a deja vu moment.

I had one in the 70's and must have put 100,000 miles on it! Now I clearly remember the action and feel of the l controls.

I remember the dash pot being maintenance item. The anti-skate and tracking force controls being top drawer.

Yours looks to be great specimen.

Tim

Indeed, anything my late uncle had, he kept like new. It had been mounted in his original hi-fi console from the late 1940s, so it had been well protected over the years. I removed it from the console back in 2004 but left it covered and protected so it really didn't deteriorate any further, and it cleaned up beautifully. After restoring it I got the base for it off ebay.

In fairness to Dual, they stopped making this turntable in 1968. When I was servicing them-and I serviced literally hundreds-, there were very few problems with the headshell connections or intermittencies with signal. I suspect that both time and handling have ultimately taken their toll on these parts. I'm glad that you were able to resurrect this fine turntable. If you read the reviews from around 1966, they compared the 1019 favorably to the best manual tables available. From the 1009 on, Dual really began hitting on all cylinders, with extremely low tonearm friction combined with very stable speed and low wow and flutter. You could easily mount an ADC XLM in the 1019 and track it all day at 3/4 gram, with no difficulty tripping the auto shut off. Rumble, while not the lowest around, was still plenty good as long as you kept a supple idler in the unit. We replaced them every few years and if you haven't done so, it might make sense to have yours rebuilt. I find that Terry Dewitt does the best job with these. As for operation, yes, the manual position is a bit confusing on these, and was changed when they went to the 12 series where just moving the arm from the rest turned on the motor. If your cuing is moving too slow or too fast, you can buy new damping fluid here: http://turntablebasics.com/silicone.html. Much as I like the 1019, I have to say that my all time favorite Dual changer is the 1219 or 1229. The synchronous motor with large diameter idler, gimbal arm bearing, and full size platter were definite improvements over the 10 series.

John, thanks for the very useful information. I am familiar with Terry's Rollers from the Ampex tape recorder world, so it is good to hear that they do well with the Dual idler. I will also follow-up with the silicone fluid.

In your repair experience on these, have you had difficulty removing the idler? It seems to be retained by a small slot-head screw which I was unable to remove. I didn't want to apply excessive torque lest the head snap off, so I just lubricated the top and bottom of the idler shaft with the idler in place. However I know it will be necessary to remove it at some point. Am I missing something?

John, thanks for the very useful information. I am familiar with Terry's Rollers from the Ampex tape recorder world, so it is good to hear that they do well with the Dual idler. I will also follow-up with the silicone fluid.

In your repair experience on these, have you had difficulty removing the idler? It seems to be retained by a small slot-head screw which I was unable to remove. I didn't want to apply excessive torque lest the head snap off, so I just lubricated the top and bottom of the idler shaft with the idler in place. However I know it will be necessary to remove it at some point. Am I missing something?

-David[/quote]

David, there's a slot in the post, but you don't want to turn that. The idler is held in place by a small plastic retaining ring that's held into a slot at the top of the idler post. The way I've always removed the idler retainer is by holding the tip of a small screwdriver in the slot of the idler post, and then just grabbing the idler evenly from underneath and pulling up. This will pop the plastic retaining ring without damaging it. Put just enough downward pressure on the post with your screwdriver to counteract the upward force on the idler carrier generated from pulling the idler up. This has always worked perfectly for me, and then the ring is always reusable afterwards.

Thanks much John, that is not at all obvious from the service manual. You saved me from possibly breaking something.

-David

You're right. It's not written down anywhere, and it just comes from having worked on a whole lot of Duals. A lot of techs try to get a screwdriver under the plastic ring and pry it, but that inevitably scratches the idler bushing, and often damages the ring.